The Best-Laid Plans…………

This quote from Robert Burns pretty much sums up the crossroads we currently find ourselves at. So let’s bring you up to speed as much as it pains me to do so.

Two years ago we made the decision to get off the road full-time and build our dream home where we would live out our lives. It was a crazy transition. The year it took to plan and build our home was absolutely one of the most difficult years we’ve ever had. It was also one of the most exciting years.

Over this past year things have settled down. I felt like we were really starting to get in our groove. I’m the type of person who enjoys hobbies. I have way way too many hobbies. Gardening, guitar, this blog, photography, stock market trading and now options trading just to name a few.

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Q1 2026 Dividend Portfolio Update

Oh what a quarter! The markets were up, then they were down and then they were way down.

At the beginning of the year our dividend portfolio started off hot. We were reaching new highs on a consistent basis and life was good. However, war broke out in the Middle East we took a hit. Those hits kept on coming all the way to the end of the quarter.

It’s not a big deal as we have seen this story before. Geopolitical events happen and then they end. It’s not a straight line in either direction so the best thing to do is nothing. Except keep buying of course.

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Q1 2026 Financial Update

Well, I didn’t intend to go this long in-between posts. We have had a very busy month! On top of that I had some issues with the website that are still being worked out. Then I tried to change our plan and that really messed everything up.

If things look a little different that would be because the website reverted back to our 2022 data. I have been slowing rebuilding it as time allows, but it’s a frustrating and time consuming task. Yes, I had a backup which would have been perfect if I had access to it. It’s a long story.

As I said it was a busy month. We decided to take a road trip back behind the iron curtain of stupidity and visit family in California. In perfect RVF fashion we planned our trip and then a war broke out in the middle east. Gas prices soared just in time for us to hit the road.

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5 Years of F.I.R.E.

I was scrolling through our old blog posts the other day and didn’t realize how long we have been at this. We started this blog in April of 2019 to document our journey to becoming financially independent full-time RV’ers.

Our goal was to retire early so we could enjoy life on the road. We could have kept working remotely in some capacity, and Mrs. RVF did for a couple of months, but that wasn’t the point. The purpose was to enjoy life and traveling without the burden of financial worry or a work schedule.

At that time we were on the cusp of reaching the coveted $1M threshold in our portfolio. We also had a decent amount of equity built up in our townhouse. Combined we were only about $375k away from reaching our $1.5M goal. Since we planned to sell our house and everything we owned home equity was essentially cash in our minds.

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2025 Financial Wrap Up

Welcome to our 2025 financial wrap up blog. What a year!

2025 was a year of adjustments, challenges and getting acquainted with our new normal. It hasn’t been all roses, but we are very happy. Scratch that. We are happy and we working on some things that will make us more happy.

The transition from living in an RV to moving back into a house has been a bumpy ride. From a financial standpoint it has been very expensive. Trying to furnish an entire home is not cheap. It’s also not as fun as it used to be when we were younger. Getting reacquainted with the number of bills that come with home ownership is even less enjoyable. Water, trash, electric, tv, internet, POA, insurance and worst of all property taxes. BLAH!!

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2025 Divided Portfolio Wrap Up

Welcome to our 2025 dividend portfolio wrap up blog!

In our last update we talked about making some changes to start eliminating positions that no longer fit our portfolio. A few of our positions are no longer growing dividends or have even cut their dividend. These are the positions we are looking to exit so we can reallocate those funds to more productive investments.

Since that update we exited ABR. REITs have been going through a rough patch and ABR cut their dividend as a result. While I expect REITs to bounce back with lower interest rates this is a company I have lost faith in. We have other REITs that are better run so we will stick with those and cut our losses here.

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Q3 2025 Financial Update

It’s been a couple of months since our last financial update and there is no better time than now.

The markets have been on fire! But, we might be getting to that point where a pullback could be inevitable. We have certainly enjoyed watching our portfolio rebound to our pre home build levels. However, the reality is that the markets can’t go up forever. At some point there needs to be a pullback or even a correction. No one wants it to happen, but that’s what healthy markets do.

This year end could be similar to 2024. We had a good run until end of year profit taking started and the market fell pretty good. That would be ok though as it would set up nicely for 2026. But, what might keep the ball rolling this year are rate cuts.

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